Jerry Saltz Eats Lunch

Newbie journalists and critics such as myself certainly found The Whitney Biennial‘s press preview offerings exciting Tuesday morning. The museum had fresh coffee, a plate full of bagels and other yummy food – a real step up from nothing – which a lot of us are used to. Of course, one really should know better than to proclaim they are moving up in the world based on their bagel consumption, because inevitably such conclusions bite you in the ass. In my case the ass-biting turn around time was exceptionally short; after arriving late to the Park Armory portion of the Biennial, I was to witness the person ahead of me grab the last complimentary lunch. Thank you JERRY SALTZ for nabbing that final serving!

To be fair, Mr. Saltz really can’t be blamed for my imposed art starvation that day; the man merely fended for himself…unlike all those waif thin girls I saw walking around with multiple boxes. Now without a lunch, I spent the next twenty minutes trying to find a room devoid of food smells while listening to Biennial/Park Armory press release-ease orated over a speaker. There was no escape, but eventually, the curators stopped talking so we could all look at the rest of the show. It was probably close to 2:30 when I finally found a seat to relax after having viewed everything. A colleague sat down beside me with her lunch box in hand, “Oh I see you managed to get one of those lunches.” I said irritably. “Oh yes” she replied, “I took two! The food is so good, and it’s a free dinner for me now, so you really have to grab the opportunity when you have it.” I didn’t reply.